James Cole celebrated his tenth National Class win in the 2010 Cooper Tires British F3 International Series this weekend. The three races at the Thruxton circuit in Hampshire produced a win and two seconds for the Liverpool driver and put him 10 points clear of title rival, Menasheh Idafar in the National Class Drivers Championship.
Cole and Idafar arrived in Thruxton as joint leaders in the National Class and with Cole having led from the start, he was determined to wrest back the advantage. The practice sessions gave Cole his chance to learn the characteristics of the high-speed circuit and work with the T-Sport crew to develop the set up of his car ahead of the qualifying session. An engine change after the session gave the T-Sport mechanics extra work ahead of the races, but the car was ready for the races in plenty of time.
It was the first of the three races which gave Cole the edge for the weekend. Cole kept it clean throughout the 27 laps of racing and with Idafar crashing out on the penultimate lap, he was able to take the Class win. The remaining two races of the weekend saw Cole and Idafar fight hard and fair. In the second race, a 17 lap sprint distance, the two young drivers, vied for class honours and with their closely matched machinery, it was a close battle which was won by Idafar on this occasion. The final race of the weekend was a similar story, but Cole was forced to pit for extensive repairs after being caught up in a clash between two International Class drivers. With bent wishbones and a damaged rear wing, Cole could only race on for championship points, unable to vie for the fastest lap or a Class win. His second place finish kept him in the lead of the all-important National Class Drivers Championship.
Cole reported his weekend saying, “Thruxton is a great track to drive and really needs nerves of steel for the high speed sections, especially when you’re racing wheel-to-wheel. It wasn’t one of my best weekends, but the result went my way in the end, as I achieved my goal of leaving the event back in the lead of the championship. Idafar and I are pushing each other to the limit and that’s good for both of us, and I’m making sure that I keep a sensible head to prioritise strong performances and points finishes. Mixing it with the International Class cars wasn’t as easy for us at this fast track, but we were still able to beat some of these guys, and that’s always the aim at this level of racing.”
Cole will have little time to reflect on the weekend with the next round of the championship hot on the heels of Thruxton. Silverstone will host the next event this coming weekend and Cole is already preparing for the championship’s second visit to this venue, working with his engineer to be as ready as possible for the three races ahead.
